Wednesday, July 28, 2010

If I had to choose just one word to describe our Bethlehem, PA Photo Workshop with 16 amazing bloggers, led by the incomparable Lisa from The Long Road to China - it would be....

.....WOW!!!!

What a week-end!

(I'm in the throws of editing some of the over 700 RAW shots I took and will post more in a while. Meanwhile - check out some of the other entries here and get ready to be blown away.)

This was the defining moment for me. We shot the whole day in manuel after 2 hours of instruction. There are a lot of things to consider with each shot and my first attempt at this beautiful blue sky came out completely blown out. White....pure white. But Lisa was standing beside me and showed me her version of the sky and it was blue. My shutter speed was at about 1/160 of a second (too slow) so there was way too much light...thus...blown-out. Lisa said "try 1/3200" which I did and this is the result. Quelle difference!!!!

That was my biggest a-ha moment. ( I heart Lisa.)

We had some amazing models that day.

I'm hooked, smitten and want to sleep with my camera now. And I'm doing some pretty heavy flirting with Photoshop too. (Lightroom and I have been tight for months now.)

Thanks Lisa, Marla, Darling Dita and all you amazing gals who made this week-end such a blast!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

I could just sit and watch them monkey play around forever. I'm constantly diving for my camera, most of the time the wrong lens is on and I have no time to set anything so I just grab what I can.

But I'm thankful that I get to be their Mom and they let me watch their lttle adventure. (And grab what I can as they wiz past me.)

Today, I'm especially thankful for Milana's courage. Today, I left her for the first time (except for with Daddy) in almost a year. (For 25 minutes.)

Today, Milana began her first (tiny) day at pre-school. And she, no we did great! It's a place where I had put my name in a long time ago, very close to home and I really wanted to get her in. Very reasonably priced, very flexible with a great educative program.

When they called about 2 months ago and said a spot was free, I grabbed it but asked if I could start her really slowly. Just a few hours at first and gradually increase it. Because Milana is a "cling-on" child, I've gotten nothing done in the past year and I really need to start some painting and a few other projects (wink,wink) so my hope was by this coming fall - she would be comfortable with 3 or 4 mornings a week.

That's the plan and today gave me some hope that we'll make it. It's hard for any kid to separate but for adopted kids (with in my case, a lot of baggage), it's extra hard.

I'm proud of my little trooper.

Update: Day 2.....started out a little shaky as predicted. She screamed for 2 minutes after I closed the door and then....silence. When I returned 25 minutes later, she was sitting on the teachers lap, surounded by about 8 other kiddos and guess who was orchestrating playtime? Yup....Milana. She was so busy pointing to everyone to do such and such (not with words but with very clear actions) and was so engaged she didn't even notice me. When she finally did, about 2 mintues later, she broke out in a huge grin and scrambled to show me everything she had accomplished. A puzzle, a drawing and stickers on a paper.

I exhaled!

And very thankful!

I'm thankful that I can sit in my backyard (not for long in this 100 degree heat) and watch my birds. Especially my cardinals. (Though I have to fill this feeder. What kind of mother is that?)

I love my backyard - not because it is pristine, because it is definately not, especially this year - but because it is private. And it's mine!

(see the sawdust?....I'll explain.)

It's my little haven and nobody can see anything (but us). But, my garden has been becoming more and more of a shade garden because of my two huge lime trees - over 50 feet tall each. Great for privacy - but they really block the sun. And they're so big I can't get anyone to cut them without taking out a morgage to pay them (joke).

Problem solved. Our hydro people came by on Monday and said - "time to cut back those trees - they're covering the hydro wires". "Oh, alright" I said......"cut if you must".So yes, they're downright ugly right now but in a few years will fill in a bit. Meanwhile we have lovely dappled sun in our backyard again.And my roses..........and hydrangeas and a hundred other flowers will thank me (...er...the hydro people) for it.

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Hi, I'm Wanda. I am a happy woman, wife to Danny for...oh....lots a years and finally Mom to THE most adorable little girl from Hunan, China - Dahlia. And now we have been blessed again with another daughter, Milana, from Zhejiang, China. (The 2 best things I've ever done!)
We live in the Montreal area. After a loooonnngg wait for Dahlia's little sister Milana (pronounced - Mee-lana, like banana), we finally brought her home in August 2009. Dahlia came to us in Nov 2004 (at 20 months of age)and a year later we began the application for another baby - at the time the waiting period was around 8 months. Almost 4 years later (say what!?!)we, at last, brought Milana home.
This began as the story of our journey to bring Milana home and life with her big sister, Dahlia. It now continues as we live as a family of four!

God.
My (growing) family.
Hangin' out with my girlies.
My wonderful friends (you know who you are!).
To laugh (out loud and a lot!).
Music.
Painting. Hugs.
Long chats with my buds.
My garden.
To read (ha...when I can!).
Sunshine.
Spring, Spring and more Spring.
Building things.
Cooking.
Decorating.
Parties (ahem).
The internet.
Life.
Movies. A.I.
Dancing with the stars.
So you think you can dance.
Travel. Umm..did I say laughing my head off.
Oh Gee...everything actually!!